The judge who presided over Hunter Biden’s federal tax case in Los Angeles rebuked President Joe Biden for pardoning his son this week, saying he misrepresented the facts of his son’s criminal case when he announced the move.
In a brief order, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi also called out the president for maligning law enforcement and the justice system in his rationale for issuing the clemency, and the judge even indicated that part of the pardon may be unconstitutional.
The criticism of a sitting president from a federal judge adds to the condemnation by both Republicans and Democrats of the president’s extraordinary decision Sunday to give the “full and unconditional” pardon after repeatedly saying he wouldn’t.
Scarsi, who was nominated to the federal bench by then-President Trump, took issue with the claim of unequal, biased treatment that the president invoked to spare his son prison time in the tax case. The pardon, which absolves Hunter Biden of any and all federal offenses in an 11-year period, also wiped away the verdict by a Delaware jury that convicted him of illegally purchasing a handgun.
“The President asserts that Mr. Biden ‘was treated differently’ from others ‘who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,'” Scarsi wrote.
The judge explained what he sees as the flaw in that thinking: Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax evasion that occurred after he became sober, when he misclassified personal expenses like luxury clothing, escort services and his daughter’s tuition as business expenses.
Scarsi also questioned Biden’s assertion that no “reasonable person” could reach “any other conclusion” than Hunter Biden was singled out because of his last name.
“But two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the president,” Scarsi wrote.
“And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges.
“In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people,” the judge wrote.
